Asked whether she's sad to see Tess go, Stephenson replied: "Not at all! I've had an absolute ball doing Emmerdale, so on the one hand I am sad not to be working with Dom and Zoe anymore. But I'm always quite excited at the end of a job about what opportunities are coming next. I'm really looking forward to playing someone new.

"At the moment I am reading scripts and auditioning for different roles. I have theatre and TV work that I'm either considering or waiting to hear about.

"It's an exciting and nail-biting time for an actor when you're in between jobs. You always think, 'I'm never going to work again', but then something fantastic comes along. Or it has so far, touch wood!"

Tess's exit was kept top secret before transmission, but the fatal twist was filmed early last month and had been months in the planning.

ITV

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On filming the dramatic road stunt, Stephenson continued: "It was easy for me. We had an amazing stunt woman who just blew everyone away with her skill and fearlessness. She was awesome and the stunt looked amazing.

"Thank God everything ran smoothly, although I did do rather a lot of lying on a dirty road in freezing January weather! But it was all made so worthwhile by the fantastic story we got to act."

There's also much more to come from Tess's husband Pierce (Jonathan Wrather), who's just been introduced on screen for the first time.

ITV

Reflecting on her Emmerdale experience as a whole, Stephenson concluded: "I have loved it. Genuinely it has been a lovely experience to do such a meaty storyline with such fine, dedicated, generous actors who are now good chums.

"It's been an absolute joy to come in and get such a juicy storyline straight away. The writers have created a fantastic story with great twists and turns that have kept the audience hooked in all the way along. I've been really lucky.

"I think Tess really loved Paddy - although I think she chose the wrong person to fall in love with. I think her choices might have been smarter had she not been so unhappy - with her relationship, and the fact that she's never had children.

"But I think Paddy loves Rhona. I think he got himself into a really destructive situation. The illicit desire probably felt like love, and then the guilt of her dying probably makes him even more confused, but I think at the end of the day he loves Rhona."

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays.

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